Daniel Collins
Daniel Collins was born during the latter half of the 18th century in the New England fishing village of Collinsport, Maine. In 1795, his elder sister Millicent and he arrived at the venerable mansion known as Collinwood where they lived with their extended family. As a child, Daniel developed a close bond with his cousin, Sarah Collins, but was devastated when the young girl passed away from Pneumonia. (In truth, Sarah's illness was actually the result of a spiteful witch known as Angelique.) As an adult, Daniel married a woman named Harriet and became the patriarch of Collinwood. He bore two sons, Quentin in 1808 and Gabriel in 1811. In 1830, he murdered Harriet and it became a well-known family secret. (Prior to the 1840 Sequence, it was stated by Edith Collins that she and Gabriel fought with Daniel over where they would live, ultimately losing and moving into Collinwood rather than The Old House which was her wish. This was prior to the conception of the ‘first’ (i.e., 1840) Quentin.) In late 1840, the Collins family was set upon by the spirit of centuries old warlock named Judah Zachery.Although dead, the head of Judah Zachery contained the warlock's malevolent spirit, and whomever took possession of the head became Judah's unwilling slave. The head passed through several hands but ultimately came into the possession of a seaman named Gerard Stiles (a friend of Quentin Collins). Zachery took complete possession of Stiles and used the younger man's personality and charm to insinuate his way into the Collins family fortune. Gerard framed Quentin for two murders and various acts of Satanism and convinced Daniel to alter his will leaving the Collins estate to Gerard rather than Quentin. Daniel's mental stability was greatly traumatized by the event and his health took a turn for the worse. Compounding the ailing Daniel's stress was the appearance of a woman named Valery Collins. Valery was in fact the reincarnated witch Angelique who terrorized Collinsport nearly fifty years earlier. Daniel recalled Angelique from his childhood memories; she quickly banished his memories by calling up Harriet's ghost, saying that each time he began to remember Angélique, he would remember Harriet as well (Episode 1131). In the end, it was actually Daniel's second son, Gabriel, who ended his life. Upon learning that the family fortune was to be left to Gerard Stiles, Gabriel assaulted his father inducing a seizure which ultimately claimed his life. However, it should be noted that this represents an altered timeline as there was no indication of Gabriel's acts in the 1897 sequence. In 1897, when Edith Collins died, she claimed Daniel was the one who came to get her. Other Versions In 1970, the series writers began a storyline which focused on alternate realities. The character of Barnabas Collins discovered that the entranceway to a specific room at Collinwood led into a Parallel Time where characters and events played out in similar form to their mainstream counterparts, but with significant alterations. Daniel Collins (again played by Henesy) made several appearances during the 1970 Parallel Time story-arc. * In 1991 Dan Curtis Productions revived the Dark Shadows series as a one-hour night time soap opera for NBC. The series re-imagined the "1795 Flashback" storyline and cast child actor Joseph Gordon Levitt in the role of Daniel Collins. Levitt also played Daniel's modern day descendent David Collins throughout the series. * This version of Daniel Collins also made cameo appearances in the Innovation#Dark Shadows: Book Two comic book limited series by Innovation Comics. * Reference was made to Daniel Collins in the 1970 movie House of Dark Shadows. David Collins dressed as his ancestor, Daniel, for a costume ball. Category:Dark Shadows Characters Category:1795 Characters Category:1840 Characters